


Lazer Training

by AU_Ruler



Series: CRDL Days [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Atlas Academy, Lazer tag, Training, background russel/dove, dumb fun, especially lazer tag, russel centered, russel gets Serious for games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23546458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AU_Ruler/pseuds/AU_Ruler
Summary: With Penny's help, Russel kinda tricks the team into playing a game of lazer tag.
Relationships: Dove Bronzewing/Russel Thrush
Series: CRDL Days [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694590
Kudos: 4





	Lazer Training

“Friend!” Penny called and Russel turned to look at her. He paused when he saw her running toward him. Apparently she wanted something.

“Yeah Penny?” They’d become friends sometime after team CRDL had moved to Atlas Academy. And after she’d been remade. She wasn’t at the school often, busy with protecting the people at Mantle. But the two of them hung out when they could. Often Sky would join, sometimes the other two would as well. It was rarer for Cardin and Dove. Those two had a tendency to stick to themselves, even now. Neither were big fans of interacting with the team in the beginning. He knew Cardin didn’t like having to make other friends. That had started to change when Glynda had gotten them for cheating, though, and they’d had to start studying together. It had forced them to make friends with each other. Which was a happy day for Russel. The school had made them a team, it was nice for them to finally start to _act_ like one. Now at Atlas they were truly a team. “What d’ya need?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to do some training.” Penny stopped in front of him, rocking up on her toes once.

Russel raised an eyebrow. “What kind of training?”

“You will see!” Penny 

She led Russel to the Training Room before heading to a computer and messing with some of the buttons. The lights lowered. When they did, the blocks in the room started to give off a faint glow. Confused, he looked around. He’d never seen the room like this. It almost looked like something he did with some of the kids from his old school back in Vacuo. Penny tapped on his shoulder, getting his attention. With a smile she held up a gun and vest.

“Is this…” Russel blinked and took them when Penny handed them over. Slowly, he put on the vest. She did the same with a green one. Finally he looked away from the gun in his hand and back at Penny. “Is this laser tag?!”

Still smiling, she nodded. Russel lit up. It’d been so long since he’d played laser tag. The memory of running around a dark room playing clearly. That was how he’d originally unlocked his semblance. He was chasing an older kid who was too fast for him until he was suddenly right behind them. It’d gotten Russel the winning point for his team.

It was late in the day when Penny and Russel finished. Russel was sweaty and panting, while Penny seemed pretty unaffected. ‘ _The perks of being a robot,_ ’ Russel thought. By the end, Penny had him twenty to fifteen. According to her it was only her second time playing. A girl named Neon had taught her. As he caught his breath, he laughed. He hadn’t stopped smiling since it began. They’d spent half the fight yelling at each other from different sides of the room. Just talking and joking. It reminded him of the past in a way being with his team hadn’t yet, but it also made longing rest heavy in his bones. Fun and challenging as it was, there was something special about doing it with a group.

“Hey Pens?” Russel got her attention. “Could you set this up for my team?”

Penny looked at him, thinking. “I should be able to! You’d have to wait a few days.”

Russel nodded. “That’s fine. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome!”

He gave her back the vest, swiping his hair back. It’d begun to cling to his forehead. Absently he pulled out his scroll. There was a message from Sky and he responded to that first, apologizing for not seeing it earlier. Then he checked the time. Two hours had passed since they’d started. A second message came in. He answered that as well before giving Penny a last ‘goodbye’ and heading to find the team.

♝

It was four days later when Penny was able to help set the training room back up. Sadly this time she wouldn't be joining. There were more important things she had to do. But Russel figured it’d be better for it to just be the team anyway.

“Thanks again, Penny,” Russel said before Penny left to do whatever it was she had to. Then he left to find his team. In his excitement, he almost activated his semblance. But he clamped down on it. He might need it during training. So it wouldn’t be good to waste it here.

Eventually he found them- in their dorm room. Honestly, he should’ve checked there first. But Sky had recently been exploring quite a bit. He’d joined him for a lot of it. The new Academy had everything Beacon had, sure. But it was so much _more_! The building was bigger, grounds sprawling and clouds surrounding. Sometimes a cloud would even pass through the school, filling the outside with fog and water crystals hanging in the air like dew in grass. It fascinated both of them. Though sometimes it had fear spiking through Sky. He’d cling to him, lowering both of them to the ground. Russel would sit there, talking until it passed. Then they’d move on like it hadn’t happened.

At some point Russel would have to get Sky to actually talk about that. But not now.

‘Guys!” Russel looked around at his lounging teammates. Dove and Sky were sitting together on Sky’s bottom bunk, backs against the wall on opposite sides. Cardin sat alone on his top bunk. A notebook was in his lap, he was probably doing homework. He’d gotten better with that since Miss Goodwitch had chewed them out for doing each other’s back at Beacon. Russel shivered. The thought of that still freaked him out. How was it possible for a singular person to be that scary? Even Pyrrha didn’t scare him. And she’d single handedly taken out the whole team. Of course, they were terrible at working together back then. They’d grown. Now, well, she’d probably _still_ kick their asses. But they’d do better. If she was still alive. For just a second he frowned. Then he looked back at the others. “Come train with me.”

The three of them looked at him. Cardin sat up and Sky sighed. “Now?” Sky asked.

“Yes!” Russel said. He felt kinda bad, they looked really relaxed. But he _really_ wanted to do this. So he swallowed down not wanting to disturb them and looked up at Cardin. “Can we?”

Cardin rolled his eyes down at him. Still, he jumped down from the bunk. “Alright.”

“Cardin!” Sky whined.

“No,” Cardin snapped at him. “You’re not doing anything right now and it’d be good to use some down time to train.”

“We did that yesterday,” Sky grumbled, but he still followed after Dove when he stood up.

Russel smiled at Sky. The other boy didn’t really like training. Not like Dove or Cardin. Still, Russel was sure Sky would appreciate this form of training. Even if he didn’t like the idea of it now.

Sky continued to grumble on the way to the training room, until Cardin hit his shoulder. Then he stayed quiet. Russel protested the action but Cardin just shrugged. At least Sky didn’t take it for anything but a reprimand. Still, it made Russel frown. It wasn’t terrible. He just could’ve been nicer about it.

When they reached the room, the lights were still off. That was good. Before Russel had left, he’d taped a sign to the door. Claiming its use. Thankfully it’d been respected. They’d already experienced it where they reserved the room but someone else still took it before they could get there. Cardin was really annoyed by that. And none of them could blame him, they were all a bit annoyed. Dibs was to be respected.

“What is this?” Sky asked, looking around. Instead of answering him, Russel held up a vest. From some of their talks before, Russel knew Sky’d played laser tag before. It didn’t take long for recognition to flash in Sky’s eyes and a smile to cross his features. He didn’t seem too upset anymore. “ _You got laser tag_?”

Russel matched his smile and nodded. “I sure did.” He started to hand out guns and vests. When he met Cardin’s eyes, Cardin frowned.

“We’re supposed to be training,” Cardin told Russel even as he took the weapon Russel handed him.  
“This _is_ training, Car. Team building. Two on two, you and Sky verse me and Dove,” Russel told him.

“How’d you even rig it up?” Sky asked.

Russel smiled. “I had some help from a friend. Do you remember the rules?” He asked Cardin. During childhood, Russel was only able to drag Cardin to a game once or twice. Though he wouldn’t say it to his face, Cardin was never great at it. Shooting wasn’t his thing. Even as a kid he was more hands on. That’s why Cardin’s weapon was one of the few without a gun function.

“I remember,” Cardin said. Russel wasn’t sure if that was true. Or if it mattered. Probably not, with their group they’d likely be breaking rules from the beginning. That was okay.

“Alright,” Russel nodded. “Dove?”

Dove rolled his eyes. “Contrary to your belief, I did have a childhood.”

Russel half-smiled. “Right. So.” He clicked a button on the computer, starting the ten second timer Penny had left him. Then he quickly walked backwards, counting out loud. At ‘ten’, the blocks lit up. It was go time.

He was followed out by Sky. Together, they ducked behind a wall to make a plan. Or something resembling one. Sky would go for Cardin while he went for Dove. One going left and the other going right. They put their hands together, bounced them once, and put them in the air. Then they ran.

Maybe two minutes later he heard Cardin shout. He laughed to himself. Sky had already reached his target. Now he had to find his.

Dove was their strongest team member. Even against Cardin, he was the best in a fight. But this was Russel’s turf. He doubted anyone on their team played as much laser tag as he did growing up. And the speed boost his semblance gave didn’t hurt. Russel rolled down a slope, activating rush for that boost and ending behind another wall. He plastered his back to the wall, peaking out barely with his finger on the trigger. The glow of the blocks caused everything to have an air of fuzziness. It was a good replacement for the absent fog. For a while he sat there, examining his surroundings. A shadow passed and he shot. It was a false alarm, though. The glow had messed with his eyes. He moved to run from his spot. The shot might alert someone.

Before he could, though, his back hit something. Or some _one_ . He turned and there stood Dove. The crouched position he was in had Dove standing an inch or two above him. Russel gulped, body freezing. Dammit, Dove found him first. It figured. Dove could sense heart rates. He’d really hoped that the current setting would’ve messed with it, but apparently not. That semblance was practically cheating. Though to be fair, an argument could be made for his or Sky’s semblances to be cheating for a game like this, too. And it _was_ supposed to be training afterall. So they were practically required to use their semblances at least a little bit.

Russel took a breath as Dove leaned closer. Right. Frozen to the spot with Dove currently literally standing over him. But Russel’s gun was still up. If he could just get his body to _move_ , he’d have the advantage. Except that’s when Dove leaned further and chapped lips hit his. The world faded away and Russel’s eyes slipped closed. A few seconds passed before the kiss ended. When Dove pulled back, Russel chased him. There was a shorter peck on his lips before Dove moved away and there was a double sound accompanied by a flash of light, fuzzy on the edge of Russel’s awareness. As Dove walked away, Russel felt his body slide down the wall. He breathed again, head against the surprisingly cool block. Seconds passed before the noises and light clicked. His eyes snapped open. Dove had distracted him and then _shot_ him. “FUCK!" Russel shouted, looking down at the singular missing light on his gun. There were nine lives left. Only one gone wasn't bad. Still, he would've preferred not to lose any. Even if he knew there was no way that would've happened.

His eyes tracked where he thought Dove had run. The shorter boy’d played dirty. Absently Russel licked his lip. This meant war. He hooked the gun onto his back, walking along the wall for a good place. Once he found one, he jumped. It would be easier to find Dove from up here.

He ran along the wall, crouched so at the very least Dove hopefully wouldn't see him. As he ran he heard Sky’s voice along with Cardin’s. They'd found each other again. Hopefully Sky would get Cardin like before.

But now wasn't the time to think about those two. He had to find Dove.

It took a few minutes before Russel saw Dove’s hair. Luckily the lightness of it made it glow. A sudden thought popped into his head and Russel pulled down his beanie, tucking a stray strand of his hair into the black fabric. He'd almost forgotten his hair glowed under the blacklights. Then he dropped to the floor, bringing the gun back to his front.

Before Dove could react, he shot. The vest Dove wore lit up, a sound accompanying it. Russel laughed, using rush to get away. A second shot rang out, but Russel had already ducked behind a wall and it missed. Quiet footsteps followed him. He continued to run, going into a doorway. This training room really made a good arena. And he wasn’t even fully sure how big the room was. Despite their team having used it quite a few times at this point. The constantly changing scenery made it hard to figure out. Sky might know.

A gun went off behind him and Russel jumped. When had Dove gotten there? The vest hadn’t lit up though. He turned to see Sky behind him. “Sky!” Russel whispered harshly, “it’s _me_.”

Sky shrugged like it was no big deal. “I thought you were Cardin.” Suddenly Russel was happy they had friendly fire off. It’d suck to lose a life because Sky shot him.

“We don’t even have the same build!” Russel whispered back.

“Sorry,” Sky said, but he was smiling. “It’s weird to see you competitive.”

“Huh?” Russel frowned, eyebrows going up.

“You’re not usually competitive. It’s a nice change,” Sky said. Then he looked up and before Russel knew it, Sky had run off. A second later, another gunshot rang. And this time his vest _did_ light up.

“Brothers dammit,” Russel said through his teeth. Looking back he saw the back of Dove’s head right as he rounded a corner. Russel followed behind him. Oh, no. He wouldn’t get him while he was distracted _again_ . Fool him once, shame on Dove. Fool him twice, shame on _him_.

Russel slid through the door Dove should’ve gone through, finger on the trigger and ready to shoot. But he wasn’t there. With a heavy frown, Russel ran through the other door to the hallway. He had to be somewhere. For a moment Russel considered climbing the wall again. A flash of colour ran past.

He dove.

As he jumped he shot. His side hit the ground painfully, aura flaring for just a second. The vest in front of him lit up. _Yes_ . Then who he shot turned around. _Nooo_. Cardin stood in front of him, looking down at him. Before Cardin could shoot him, Russel scrambled to his feet and ran past. “Sorry, boss!”

That wasn't who he wanted.

♝

Russel was panting. His semblance was taxed. Seventeen shots had passed between him and Dove. They were both down to one life. It had been the two of them for a long time. About twenty minutes. They'd been playing for thirty five minutes. In the first fifteen of playing, Sky’d gotten Cardin out. At minute sixteen he saw Dove hit Sky. Leaving Russel as the sole member of his team. Turning a two on two battle to a one on one war. Not that it changed a lot. This had been a war from Dove’s first shot.

Now a lot of their time seemed to be spent looking for each other. They danced around the arena. Both hiding and searching. It made it more difficult. Sky’d tried to make the place smaller. Reign them into a box. That hadn't exactly worked. Instead Dove had moved further away, and Russel had followed. Until Dove had pulled a sneak attack and shot him from behind. Apparently he wasn't the only one okay with climbing the walls. Which was a surprise. Normally Dove was… _rigid_ when it came to fighting. He had a form, followed rules. Apparently the team had more of an effect on him then Russel’d thought.

He breathed deeply, back against a wall. By now his eyes were well adjusted so the glowing of the boxes making all the walls didn’t bother him. The place didn’t have that fuzzy-fog look. At least, not as bad as in the beginning. For a time he just stood there. Breathing slowly to calm his heart. If he calmed it enough, hopefully Dove’d have more trouble finding him. That meant he wouldn’t be able to use his semblance. But he was sure he wouldn’t be able to use it right then anyhow. Not enough to help. So if he could take away Dove’s advantage, even if a little, he would. Just to even the playing field back out.

It took a while before he felt his heart was calm enough. Then he pushed away from the wall to continue the search. His gun was trained in front of him as he walked low to the ground. If he could just catch Dove by surprise, it’d all be over. Carefully, he looked around a corner. Sky had taken to playing random music over the speakers about ten minutes ago. The tunes made it hard to hearar where Dove was. But it also hid his own steps. In this case, Russel counted it as his advantage. Years of lazer tag made him better equipped for hunting in a noisy environment, anyway.

Up ahead on the next turn, Russel saw a flash of colour. Dove’s hair. He smiled to himself. Finally.

Russel sprinted forward, stopping right before the bend. When he poked his head out, Dove was looking around. He hid again right as Dove turned to look his direction. _Fuck_. In his excitement he'd forgotten about Dove’s semblance. If he slowed his heart quickly enough, maybe Dove’d think it was a fluke. It was worth a shot. Still, his gun up, finger on the trigger. This wasn't a thing he'd risk just ‘a shot’ on.

He'd hust barely taken his second deep breath when he spotted Dove looking around the corner. Russel dropped, knees hitting the floor hard. A smaller target would be harder to hit. Their eyes met. They stared each other down, each not willing to give up their position. Then Dove moved an inch. Probably hoping to hit whatever part of his best was visible. When Dove moved far enough out, Russel shot. So did Dove.

One shot rang out, then the second. Both boy's vests lit up. A split second apart. Their eyes met again, wide. Who'd hit first? The lights turned back on and the blocks slowly lowered back into the floor. Russel stood up. Together, Dove and him walked over to the computer where the other two were. With the way those two were staring at them, Sky beaming and Cardin practically glowering. Still, Russel wanted to see it to be sure.

‘ **Last one standing: Russel** ’, the computer read in blue letters. His shot landed first.

“Yes!” he cheered, excited in the glow of his victory. He turned to Dove, who gave a flat look at his excitement. But Russel didn't miss the little curve of his lip. Then Sky got him in a hug. It was something quick, Sky pulling back awkwardly. Before Russel pulled him back in for just a few seconds longer.

“Good job,” Cardin told him after he'd released Sky again.

“Thanks, boss,” Russel said.

They put the equipment away after that, Russel turning off the computer. When they were done, they headed back to the dorm. Russel needed a snack. And it would be nice to sit down for a bit. Get the last of the adrenaline to leave his body. On the way out, Dove came over to him.

“I'll win next time.”

Russel smiled. “Sure you will.” 

He was still the best at lazer tag. No one would take that from him. Except maybe Penny. Still didn't change that it was his game. His ultimate game. Definitely his favourite game.


End file.
